Mutant Future
Mutant Future is a post-apocalypse science-fantasy game by Daniel Proctor and Ryan Denison, and published by Gobliniod Games. The game is based on the first two editions of Gamma World. The game is a new take on retro-clone games. Instead of reproducing the original rules under a different title, it takes a number of rules and concepts, and incorporates them into the Labyrinth Lord game (which in tern, is a retro-clone of Basic and Expert Dungeons & Dragons). The underline philosophy of the game's development, was to make the game compatible with classic Gamma World and Dungeons & Dragons modules, to maintain the "feel" of the classic Gamma World game, and to be open-ended enough to be compatible with the Mutant Lord's own settings. Setting Unlike Gamma World, Mutant Future has no established canons, and was designed for players to make-up their own settings – much like Dungeons & Dragons (see Gaming Philosophy). Even with the open-ended background, there are some general assumption established in the rulebook: * The (unstated) downfall of civilization happened well before the players are born * The past civilization was a technologically advanced future * Technology from past was fantastic in nature (without regards to realism), and difficult to understand. * It downfall left Humanity in a barbaric state, but has progressed to a technological state akin to the Medieval Ages * The facts behind the fall has given way to myths & rumors * And, whatever lead to the downfall of civilization, unleashed some sort of mutagenic agents (radiation) into the environment that resulted in the normal rules of evolution to run amuck The rulebook gives enough detail to start up a game without much preparation, and its open-ended enough to allow for highly unique settings. To help new Mutant Lords get started, there is an introductory scenario call "Mine of the Brain Lashers", an introductory wilderness area called the Explored Lands, and sample map of a missile silo and fallout shelter. The Rules The rules seem to have been inspired by the first and second editions of Gamma World, and Labyrinth Lord - which in turn, was based on Basic and Expert Dungeons & Dragons. Much of the inspiration from Gamma World is from character generation, advancement charts, mutations, Poison and Radiation Classes, technological artifacts, and a system to figure out how an artifact works - but without the neat flow charts. Everything else is handled with the Labyrinth Lord rules, with some exceptions to tie the rules together. Wisdom was changed to Willpower, to reflect how Gamma World used Mental Strength for that score. Saving Throws are made more simple: Energy Attacks, Poison or Death, Stun Attacks, and Radiation. Structural Hit Points (SHP) are used for buildings and watercraft (but not for vehicles or robots). The playable races are Androids, Mutant Animals, Mutant Humans, Mutant Plants, and Pure Humans. Amongst the Androids, you can play a Basic Android, a Synthetic, or a Replicant. Basic Androids look like tin-plated robots - think C3-PO. Synthetics are life-like androids with milky white blood - think Bishop from Aliens. Replicants are vat-grown clones with a lifespan of about 5 years. There are no character classes in Mutant Future. Player Characters advance as a Labyrinth Lord Fighter, but without the extra Hit Points per level. The "Lawful/Chaotic" Alignment is retained, but is widely regarded as unessential by fans. Mutants & Mazes are a special sub-set of rules that allows the players to play as Mutants and Replicants under the Labyrinth Lord rules. Being a race-as-a-class system, Pure Humans follow the normal Labyrinth Lord rules. Basic Androids, and Synthetics are not covered under these rules. There are some conversion notes (e.g.: Energy Attacks = Breath weapons, and Radiation saves = Wands), and the mutations are balanced-out to account for character levels. Errata This is an errata for the first version of Mutant Future (the Orange Cover book). The mistakes were corrected for the current rulebook (the Blue Cover book). This errata remands for those who still use the older book. (Notes are taken from the Goblinoid Games Forums.) Page 54, Column 1, Under Ram: The text says, "The first hp value listed applies to attacking large aquatic monsters." The sentence should say "The first hp value listed applies to attacking small aquatic monsters." to maintain consistency with the next sentence. Treasure Hoard Class XXII lists GPx1000 as "4d18", this is probability 4d8 or 4d10 (The game's creator has implied that is might be a 4d8, but unsure). Treasure Hoard Class XI list nothing, it should list "2d4 (40%)" under GPx1000. Compatible Products *Creatures of the Wastelands (and the other related books form the series) by Derek Holland *Deviant Database (1 & 2.0) and One Year In The Savage AfterWorld by Tim "Sniderman" Snider *Mutant Lords Screen (this is a free download) External Links *Goblinoid Games *Goblinoid Games Forums *The hardcopy storefront on Lulu.com *Mutant Future at Board Game Geek *Mutant Future Character Generator Category:Rule Book Category:Game System